Your Perfect Home Office

Over the past year, we have all spent a lot more time at home! We play at home, we sweat at home, and of course, we are now working at home. At Ocean Homes, we believe your home should be your oasis, which can be a challenge when you have no separation from your work life at your home life.  Over the past year, we’ve seen an increase in requests from our clients for home offices that provide a sense of separation between work life and family life. 

Photo taken from Ocean Home The Elizabeth

As a custom builder, we love solving the design request of our clients. Just as people are unique, so too are homes. The ease with which our home flows and complements our lifestyle can improve the quality of our life and our work. As the 3rd wave of the pandemic lingers on, having a useable home office has never been so important. 

Thankfully, a usable home office/workspace is something you can easily add to your home with minimal effort. Here are our tips for setting up a home office that you’ll be productive in.

Our Ocean Homes Tips For Creating a Productive Work Space:  

Choose a Designated Space Free of Distractions for your Home Office: most of our clients request to have their home office on the main living floor of their home. When we design a home office, we make sure the room has a door that can be closed to block out distractions. If you don’t have an office room on your main floor, look for a nook upstairs or downstairs that you can use. We recommend setting up your workspace in a spot with minimal distractions. 

Photo taken from Ocean Home The Elizabeth

Keep Housework Out of Sight:  Rule number one of the home office is to keep your workspace tidy and out of sight of the kitchen or laundry room. Working at home is ripe with distractions. The fewer distractions that enter your space, the more productive you’ll be. 

Embrace Natural Light: When we design home offices, we like to make sure there is a natural light source (via a window). Natural light is said to enhance creativity and productivity. Plus, natural light can help you schedule your day to make the most of your natural energy.

Over the past year, we have all spent a lot more time at home! We play at home, we sweat at home, and of course, we are now working at home. At Ocean Homes, we believe your home should be your oasis, which can be a challenge when you have no separation from your work life at your home life. Over the past year, we’ve seen an increase in requests from our clients for home offices that provide a sense of separation between work life and family life. 

Hang-Up a Whiteboard: At Ocean Homes, we’re big fans of incorporating tools from the office to the home office – and a whiteboard is a must. In our personal home offices, we each have a blank whiteboard we use for brainstorming and a second whiteboard we’ve converted to a Kanban. 

Create A Kanban (Productivity Tool): A Kanban Board is a valuable productivity tool that can be used to depict work projects and the stages of completion visually. To make your own Kanban, all you need is a whiteboard, dry erase markers, a post-it’s, and a felt pen or marker. Using the dry erase marker, divide your whiteboard into five columns – To Do, In Progress, Stalled, Finalizing, and Finished. On the post-it’s, write down your various projects and put them up in the corresponding category. 

Make the Workspace Yours: Your home office needs to look like a place you want to be. Add a touch of personality to your homework zone, just as you would add a touch of personality to your at workspace.

Invest in a Proper Office Chair:   Day in, day out, you’ll spend HOURS with your seat parked at your desk. Do your body a favor and invest in a comfortable, attractive, and ergonomically correct office chair. We promise, with the right chair, you’ll be unstoppable (and your body will thank you). 

Schedule Your Work From Home Hours: If you’re balancing working from home with homeschooling and other parenting duties, set a work schedule for you and your family and post the schedule on your fridge and outside your office space. Communicate to your family that during certain hours you are not available. 

Keep Your Workspace Organized: Most home offices are naturally tight on space, so at Ocean Homes, we recommend making the most of the area by utilizing floating shelves. Hang shelves above and around your workspace to keep essential tools nearby, and set up a vertical file folder on your desk to keep important papers within arm's reach. 

Now that you have our tips for designing an at-home workspace, we hope you see an increase in your work from home productivity. 

And when you’re ready for a custom-built home, let us know – we’d love to design your family’s dream house.